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Sunday 12 January 2014

[Our] Place; NY Sunday Brunch

I don’t know if it’s my age, genetics or the things I learned from watching my parents but I love homemaking.

I think it’s telling that my Christmas list this year was exclusively kitchen gadgets, prints, and accessories for the house and I was thrilled to receive them.

I read recently that your home should be a retreat, somewhere to relax and that having a hobby at home can help your home feel like your sanctuary.

My constant ‘home-hobby’ is entertaining, I love having a house full of people
Last Sunday was a New Year Brunch with my nearest and dearest from school and it gave me the perfect opportunity to test out the new food mixer and bread maker.

NY Brunch Menu
Baked dippy eggs with Parmesan
Bacon wrapped asparagus
Chipolatas
Homemade brioche and sour dough soldiers


The above was served with tea, fresh coffee & Virgin Pomegranate Mojitos and drop scones brought by two good friends

In my opinion every Brunch needs a sweet treat to round it off and this zingy fruity cake went down a storm. In fact several of my friends asked for the recipe so I thought I’d share with everyone.


Passion fruit drizzle cake [for 12]
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Cooking time: 30 Minutes
Cooling Time: 60

Sponge Ingredients

225g unsalted butter, softened
225g golden caster sugar
3 medium eggs
150ml milk
225g self-raising flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Drizzle Ingredients
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1/2 orange and 1/2 lemon
3 passion fruit, pulp only
100g golden granulated sugar


Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Spray or Butter a 30 x 23cm baking tin, approx. 4 cm deep.


Put the butter and caster sugar in the bowl of a food processor and mix together until pale and fluffy, or use a large bowl and an electric hand whisk.

Add the eggs one at a time, then add the milk- Don’t worry if the mixture appears curdled at this point.


Gradually add the flour and baking powder through the funnel with the motor running, finally adding the orange zest.

Transfer the mixture to the baking tin, smoothing the surface, and bake for 30 minutes or until golden and shrinking slightly from the sides, and a skewer comes out clean from the centre.


Run a knife around the edge of the tin and prick the cake with a skewer all over the surface at about 2cm intervals.

Combine the orange and lemon juice, passion fruit pulp and granulated sugar in a bowl, then spoon this over the top of the warm cake.


Leave it to cool, allowing the juice to sink into the cake. Once cool, cut into squares.

Note: To make this gluten free, use 225g polenta instead of the flour and 2½ teaspoons baking powder.

Thursday 9 January 2014

[Your] Place: Looking forward to the weekend

This first full week back at work has been hard... so it is with great anticipation I wrote my weekend 'To Do' list this morning.


There is a division of opinion on lists, some people feel that lists highlight what you haven't achieved... some people get great satisfaction by drawing a line through completed tasks... I am the latter. I live by the list!

With that in mind I have given myself 4 enjoyable tasks for the weekend:

1) Catch up* with the Apartment Therapy January Cure task #1-#7
*I know this is some what defeating the breaking it down objective of the January cure but I was a bit late to the party and I don't want to miss out.

2) Complete my drafted New Year Brunch post

3) [Our] Place; The Downstairs face lift photo shoot

4) Wedding Planner update

What are your weekend plans?

Wednesday 8 January 2014

[Your] Place; Retro Light Bulbs

Check these beauties out at Achica!


So these funky Dowsing & Reynolds light bulbs are more about ambiance and aesthetics than a light to read by, but that's why I love lighting you can have so many levels in one room!

I feel a purchase coming on!

 

Monday 6 January 2014

[Our] Place; The Downstairs Facelift

Having done nothing but procrastinate and 'moodboard' since moving in, three weeks before Christmas I decided it was imperative that we decorate, almost the entire, downstairs for the festive period of entertaining. Sigh!

'My poor [long-suffering] other half!'
Luckily he is used to my ways and coped very well through the subsequent onslaught of wallpaper samples, paint samples and the creative turmoil that only ensues when I’m designing [Our] Place.
Swatches galore!
 
When considering our scheme I really started to think about my design principles and personal style and what I came up with was very 'fluid' but based loosely on the statements below; 
  • I find schemes that develop from a single source of inspiration are the most effortless
  •  
  • I love schemes that can be added to and evolve as your tastes and lifestyle changes
  •  
  • I like adjacent spaces to have something in common so they flow from one to the other
  • I consider lighting to be the most influential aspect of any scheme.
  • I try to avoid seasonally biased themes and colours- I try to choose a neutral scheme that can be easily updated seasonally or with the trends.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll publish posts with more detail on each of the spaces and the finishes and products we used...
 
I'll keep you posted x

Thursday 2 January 2014

NYR for YPYR

I just read a lovely post on Apartment Therapy about the Theresa Gonzalez's New Years Resolutions for her apartment.

I love this because it turns the concept of those niggeling 'to do' lists into time invested in your home 'a little TLC' as Theresa puts it.

Following her lead my 2014 Resolutions for [Our] Place & YPYR are:

1) Design our extension
2) Put in a shower (currently using a shower attachment hung from a shelf)
3) Get our expensive range oven out of the garage and into the kitchen (I miss gas hobs)
4) Clear the box room (the smallest bedroom is still full of boxes from the move)
5) Maximise and utilise the storage in the house; A Place for Everything
6) Entertain more at home
7) Better time keeping when entertaining so its more enjoyable
8) Be more organised
9) Allow more time for homemaking and hobbies
10) Use every inch of [Our] Place
11) Blog once a week
12) Revamp the blog page
13) Instagram once a day
14) Become featured Interiors blogger

What are your resolutions for [Your] Place?